RIVER NOMENCLATURE 143 



their rivers. These are divided into two classes 

 according to the colour of their water. If it is 

 clear, the stream is called Kara- sou (black water) ; 

 if dirty or milky, Ak-soti or Tchagan-sou (white 

 water). These two rubrics include nearly every 

 river. The spot chosen for our camp was quite a 

 comfortable one, close to the stream, and sheltered 

 by the left bank from the bitterly cold wind. Patches 

 of snow here and there reminded us of the fairly 

 high altitude (about 8,800 feet). East and north 

 of us were low rolling boulders, whilst towering" 

 snowy summits glistened in the distance. We could 

 locate the Happy Valley by a long ridge of crags 

 a few miles off, now due westwards. This rocky 

 spine extended eastwards for several miles, sinking 

 gradually lower into grassy hillocks down to the 

 Suok River, into which flowed the stream on whose 

 banks we were now camped. 



The night was a very frosty one, and when Cristo 

 came in to wake me up on the following morning 

 (June 26th) at 3 a.m. I found it very trying to get 

 out of my blankets. During the night a pack of 

 wolves had attacked some of our ponies and scared 

 them to such an extent that our Kalmuks found it 

 a difficult job to secure them. Some of the horses 

 had unhobbled themselves, and travelled great dis- 



